June 22, 2009

The Danville Little League Yankees completed an incredible season finishing a combined 27-4 while winning the District 57 Tournament of Champion Title at Athan Downs in San Ramon on Tuesday June 22nd. All of these players will remember this great season and tremendous run through the post-season. Everyone in attendance at the semi-final game on Monday will never forget the “shot heard round the Tri-Valley” when Dylan Calamoneri, after an 8 pitch at-bat, blasted a three-run home run in the top of the 6th inning to help secure a chance for the title on Tuesday.

Manager Sean Venezia, Coaches Rob Riccio and Jim Redmond are so proud of this group of boys who upheld a great Danville Little League tradition that produced Major League ballplayers Nate Schierholtz and Randy Winn. From the very first batting practice and infield, we knew this was a special group of kids. Before the T.O.C., nine players were chosen for the league’s district and tournament teams. This team never gave up after losing the first game of Danville’s post-season tournament and battled through the loser’s bracket to win the Danville Little League Crown. The Yankees were 18-3 during the regular season, 6-1 during the playoffs and 27-4 overall after winning the TOC. Over 31 games, the Yankees scored 182 runs while only giving up 78 runs (an average of 2.52 runs per game).

In the Title game, Danville's' Connor Redmond went 2 for 2 with a single, triple and a pair of walks. Redmond also had an RBI and scored three times. Brian Barcellona went 3 for 3 with a walk. Ryan Murphy hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third to give the team a commanding six-run lead. The Yankees would not give up this lead en route to the championship.

Nicholas Venezia, Redmond and Dylan Calamoneri had successive RBI hits in the second to lead the Danville rally. The Yankees added four more in the bottom of the third behind a three-run home run by first baseman Ryan Murphy. The Yankees batted around the lineup in both the second and third.

The Yankees were tough from the start winning their first 15 games of the season. For a group of 11 and 12 year olds to stay focused all season while winning the TOC title and finishing with a 27-4 record is truly special. This team won with incredible pitching and defense and some timely hitting.

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Danville 14, Livermore American 9

White Sox 222 120 — 9 13 3

Yankees 364 01x — 14 13 2

White Sox (ab-r-h) — Payne 4-4-3, Parker 4-3-4, Moussa 3-0-0, Gonzalez 3-2-0, Ruth 4-2-0, -0, Meagler 3-1-0, Nea 1-0-0, Potter 4-1-1, Fagliano 1-0-0, Hill 1-0-1, Pinon 2-0-0, Osario 0-0-0

Yankees — Venezia 4-2-1, Redmond 2-2-1, Calamoneri 4-1-1, Murphy 2-1-3, Barcellona 3-3-2, Bernhardt 3-1-2, Riccio 2-1-1, Kerr 1-0-1, Facteau 3-1-1, Lerner 3-0-0, Roca 1-0-0

Pitching

White Sox — Mousssa 2 2/3 IP, 10 ER, 11 R, 9 H, 3 BB, 3 K; Payne + IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 0 K; Ruth 2 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K

Yankees — Barcellona 3+ IP, 7 ER, 7 R, 11 H, 2 BB, 1 K; Venezia 3 IP, 2 ER, 2 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Hitting

3B — Redmond (Yankees) HR — Parker (White Sox), 1st, one on; Payne (White Sox), 2nd , one on; Murphy (Yankees), 3rd, two one; Parker (White Sox), 5th, one on.